Do toddlers need snacks? How many should they have? What should they have? Are bought snacks ok?
There are so many questions.
Let’s take those 4 questions in turn.
Do toddlers need snacks?
Yes!
Babies under 1 do not need snacks but from 1 it is recommended that children have snacks. Why? Because their need for energy is quite large in comparison to the size of their tummies. But it’s not just energy they need, they need all their vitamins, minerals and macronutrients too.
How many snacks should toddlers have?
Generally it is recommended they have 2 a day. One between breakfast and lunch, and one between lunch and dinner. More than this means they don’t have enough time before meals to be properly hungry for their meals. This can increase fussiness. Also having a gap between eating times is better for their teeth.
What should they have?
This is a really hard question to answer. Why? Because it depends on what they are having at other times in the day. The British Nutrition Foundation recommend a 5532 approach. 5 portions of fruit and veg, 5 portions of starchy carbohydrate, 3 portions of dairy (or unsweetened, fortified dairy alternative) and 2 portions of protein (3 if vegetarian or vegan) per day.
The best way to think of snacks is to think of them as providing nutrition the meals haven’t provided. So, if they have had starchy carbohydrate 4 times, protein twice, fruit and veg 4 times and dairy once in their meals, they need 1 more starchy carb, 1 more portion of fruit or veg and 2 more portions of dairy in their snacks.
Remember drinks also count in the snacks so having milk alongside the snack gives an extra dairy portion.
So once you have decided which food group you are giving, the key thing with snacks for toddlers is to go for low sugar and low salt, preferably no added salt or sugar.
Examples include: plain yogurt, cheese cubes, toast and nut butter, low salt crackers, fruit, vegetable sticks and homous or cream cheese.
Are bought snacks ok?
There are so many bought snacks, it can be hard to work out what to go for. Here are some key considerations with bought snacks:
- Just because they are marketed to toddlers it doesn’t mean they are great nutritionally. Check the ingredients list
- Lots of bought snacks use fruit puree or juice to sweeten the product. This still counts as free sugar. Whole pieces of fruit don’t. Our toddlers don’t need this level of sweetness so try to opt for the more savoury snacks and then use whole fruit for the sweet stuff.
- Try to mix up what you have. Sometimes toddlers get more fussy if they are regularly having very uniform food. 2 apples are not as uniform as a fruit biscuit.
- If you are buying snacks which are not marketed for toddlers, make sure you check the salt levels. Foods marketed to toddlers have strict rules about salt. Manufacturers can only add it if the product needs it for ‘technological purposes’ (eg in bread making). Products marketed to children more generally have no such legislation around them.
- Bought snacks are not in the correct portion sizes. No 2 children are the same. Portion sizes vary with age too. If you buy a bought snack, try not to give your child the whole packet. Give some and see if they need more. You can gauge if they have had too much by what the next mealtime looks like. (For further advice about portion sizes, please feel free to get in touch)
Life is busy and preparing food for toddlers can feel like a never ending task. Convenience is helpful. However bought snacks aren’t the only convenient option. Take a look again at the example snacks I have put further up in the article. If you can prepare things earlier in the day or even when you are cooking a meal the day before, this can really help with convenience. Batch cooking helps too – like freezing my apple muffin recipe I share in the Weaning on a Budget ebook.
The bottom line
Toddlers need 2 snacks a day. The amount our children eat varies from child to child. Snacks should be seen as a way of getting nutrition in to toddlers not just keeping them from being hungry. Bought snacks can be helpful sometimes, but reliance on them can be expensive, can be heavy on the environment and doesn’t always give children the nutrition they need.
This article was written by Aliya Porter – Registered Nutritionist. It is for information only and should not be used as personalised advice. For tailored advice please speak to your GP, health visitor or a Registered Nutritionist or dietitian.